Comedy is Difficult

Humor is all around us. We see and use it every day. Yet humor is resistant to the systematic analysis that we see applied to other fields of human endeavor. There are culinary institutes but none for comedy. There are courses on music composition but none on composing a punchline.

When humor is done well, advertisers, writers, TV producers, and film-makers win awards and rake in millions. When done poorly it can trigger riots and the burning of embassies. No, I don’t think the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed were inspired or funny, but one wonders--if Gary Larson drew the camels, Monte Python did a Life of Bundar, or Letterman did the Top Ten Things Mohammed Did When He was Alone in the Desert--whether the reaction would have been amusement, not anger.

In the Internet era it’s too easy to hit the “send” button, and our ill-considered unfiltered scribblings are sent to the permanent archives in Mountain View, California. When we look back on what we wrote, drew, or recorded, too often we cringe and ask, what was I thinking? Comedy, indeed, is difficult.

Mannequinism Billboard

“Fight mannequinism” is someone’s idea of a clever slogan to encourage youth to get involved. The message is too abstract even for native English speakers. Look at this billboard in an Asian neighborhood, where the majority speak English as a second language. What were they thinking?